Zenfox T3 Triple channel dash cams free test invitation, limited quantity

just finished a +1 hour long drive that got recorded 100% on 3 cameras ( night time so no sun or open windows / fans going to add extra cooling ) when i parked back home the T3 was barely hot.
After a 10 minute or so 4K /60 recording session with my dji osmo action camera, compared to the T3 the OA are a lump of Lava, the OA is litterally so hot that i do not want it touching any of the thin skinned parts of my body
 
kuoh said:
Went on a near 2 hour drive earlier, then left the car parked in the garage running parking mode for a few more hours before taking the card out. The card was actually hot to the touch, which I wasn't expecting this long after, so I didn't think to take a temperature reading at the time. Got the IR thermometer out and took the following temps a minute later, keep in mind this is with the car parked in the garage for about 4 hours.

Garage -> 95F
Car dash -> 103F
Windshield -> 111F
Zenfox T3 -> 125F - 145F

I'm waiting for the files to finish copying off the card to check for gaps or corruption, but it'll be close to a couple of hours for 128GB.

EDIT:

Well the copy finished and I lost a couple of hours due to loop recording deleting today's files which had the correct date, because of yesterday's files with the incorrect future date, but there were no notable gaps or apparent corruption. One thing I just realized is the filename has the local time while the file system timestamp is in GMT. I would suggest both be the same, preferably in local time to make finding specific events easier.

KuoH
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Can I ask a favor please? Park your car outside in the hot sun during the day. Let the T3 run in park mode and make sure the camera is set to low bitrate recording. Let the camera sit and check back in say 3 or 4 hours to see if the interior and rear camera have vanished.

Parking in a garage gets stuffy, but nothing like the car being baked in the sun. If the ambient temperate of the car is 100+ and the ZenFox hit 125-145 in a shaded garage, imagine the temperatures sitting in the direct sun!

And yes the sim card gets VERY HOT.
 
Nigel said:
Zenfox will have put their test cameras in a temperature controlled oven for long term testing, don't know what temperature they tested them for, but probably similar to other dashcams, which is why I was asking how yours came to get too hot, was it just the midsummer temperatures, or is there a serious problem?
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My hypothesis and conjecture, and by no means is this meant to speak for others. Imagine going out in a 30C day sitting under a shaded tree. It's warm but "cooler" because the shade provides relief. So a car in the shade will not heat up as fast as one in direct sunlight. So the tests Zenfox performs in a temperature controlled oven need to account for the "greenhouse affect". In that a car sitting in the sun is far hotter than the outside temperature. Proof of concept is kuoh's post.

Per @kuoh's post.

Garage -> 95F
Car dash -> 103F
Windshield -> 111F
Zenfox T3 -> 125F - 145F
 
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FYI: This is my setup. Both cameras sitting side by side and getting the same exposure to sunlight. With the Viofo never hitting thermal TJ Max and failing. Rear cameras for both Viofo and the T3 are situated in the same side by side configuration.

Note: My Windows are Tinted. So this makes the test even more troublesome. Front has 80% Tint. Blocking out 20% light. Rear has 20% tint blocking out 80% light. So my car is actually shielded a bit from the full effects of direct sunlight.

Viofo A129 Duo
Zenfox T3 sitting

20200619_175516.jpg
 
Ok, I completed my trip to the beach today... about an hour each way. I couldn't run my test as I wanted to while the behicle was parked in direct sun light. The reason was that I had to leave my hatch back open at all time to retrieve cool drinks, snacks and so on and we where having such a nice breeze in which was keeping the interior ventilated all the time. I knew that there was no point for me to even mess with the camera at that point. I got back home and just finished reviewing all the footage and the 3 cameras recorded well all the time, all recording complete 2 minute segments @ maximum bitrate. The only issue that showed up again is that the GPS got stuck to zero from the point of take off (my home) for about 5 minutes, then it started giving some coordinates readings sporadically and it finally recovered after about 15 minutes from time of take off. Re rest of the way it performed ok.
Today's max temp reached 92 deg F but temperature was about 75 deg F this morning when I left, so there was no chance for the vehicle to get hot inside since I kept the AC running all the time so no drop offs where expected for the duration of the trip.
But hearing feedback from HonestReview and some of the other testers that live in hot climate areas, I tend to believe there is really concerns with hot temperatures affecting the camera's reliability and hopefully it gets sorted out within reasonable time as well as some of the other bugs.
 
EGS said:
Ok, I completed my trip to the beach today... about an hour each way. I couldn't run my test as I wanted to while the behicle was parked in direct sun light. The reason was that I had to leave my hatch back open at all time to retrieve cool drinks, snacks and so on and we where having such a nice breeze in which was keeping the interior ventilated all the time. I knew that there was no point for me to even mess with the camera at that point. I got back home and just finished reviewing all the footage and the 3 cameras recorded well all the time, all recording complete 2 minute segments @ maximum bitrate. The only issue that showed up again is that the GPS got stuck to zero from the point of take off (my home) for about 5 minutes, then it started giving some coordinates readings sporadically and it finally recovered after about 15 minutes from time of take off. Re rest of the way it performed ok.
Today's max temp reached 92 deg F but temperature was about 75 deg F this morning when I left, so there was no chance for the vehicle to get hot inside since I kept the AC running all the time so no drop offs where expected for the duration of the trip.
But hearing feedback from HonestReview and some of the other testers that live in hot climate areas, I tend to believe there is really concerns with hot temperatures affecting the camera's reliability and hopefully it gets sorted out within reasonable time as well as some of the other bugs.
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You being in Texas have the perfect testing grounds for the camera. From what I've observed, the camera won't fail if there's proper ventilation. Similar to my shady tree analysis. If air is able to flow in and out of the vehicle, the camera will remain "cool" on a hot day. Unfortunately, most people aren't going to leave their windows down or be able to park in a shaded area under real life conditions. Be it rain, theft from the vehicle, ,safety concerns, so on and so forth.

@kuoh has probably done the most comprehensive diagnostic by showing when a car is in a garage that reached 95F, the car is around 103F, with the camera hitting 145F.

Now my windows are tinted, but leaving the car out in direct sunlight must still be enough to overheat the camera. I'm going to buy some cheap analog thermometer tomorrow and stick it in my car to measure the interior temperature. Sadly, I have no way of actually testing how hot the camera gets as I don't have a thermal / infrared thermometer, and nor do I plan to invest in one.

So I hope knowing the car's temperature will be helpful some, but that's the best I'm willing to do here.
 
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HonestReview said:
You're in Singapore or India. Both of which are very warm countries. If you have anything to add, request a test unit if you don't have one, and give my results a run for their money. Maybe I have a faulty unit. Maybe my test results are solid. My unit is overheating. And EGS has experienced the same problem.

Now I encourage others to take these data points and prove or disprove them. Simple as that.
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I'm in Malaysia and it's been raining every day this week. So can't really do a heat test in the car with the T3.
 
Jeremy Wong said:
I'm in Malaysia and it's been raining every day this week. So can't really do a heat test in the car with the T3.
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Jeremy Wong said:
I'm in Malaysia and it's been raining every day this week. So can't really do a heat test in the car with the T3.
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+1. Hopefully next week will be OK. Really would appreciate others replicating my test and proving / disproving the results. Pretty certain people will see their cameras reduced to front only recording.
 
Nigel said:
Zenfox will have put their test cameras in a temperature controlled oven for long term testing, don't know what temperature they tested them for, but probably similar to other dashcams, which is why I was asking how yours came to get too hot, was it just the midsummer temperatures, or is there a serious problem?
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Interesting....

 
Dashcams ( too ) are tested in heat and cold cabinets in the factories, i assume both idle or doing parking mode.

It is paramount to know the the performance of things under high stress like heat, from "simple" concrete to consumer electronics
 
kamkar1 said:
Dashcams ( too ) are tested in heat and cold cabinets in the factories, i assume both idle or doing parking mode.

It is paramount to know the the performance of things under high stress like heat, from "simple" concrete to consumer electronics
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Never knew they literally threw these things into actual ovens, but it makes sense. Only way you're going to know their threshold is to cook them (literally). Bon Apetit!
 
O yes, you can get industrial testing cabinets for heat or cold endurance testing, so you could test many cameras at once in a cabinet like that.


you get them in all sizes, from one that hold a few electronic gizmos to ones where you can fit a truck or bus inside for heat or cold temperature testing.

NASA have the largest vacun test chamber, you could do unspeakable things to many of your enemies with it, while you sit and watch
And due to its size it do of course take quite a while to get all air out of it, so whatever it will be slow.

312733main_vacuum_chamber_full.jpg



That video care of BBC and NASA + this one by mythbusters, rank high on my list of coolest videos made lately.

 
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kamkar1 said:
O yes, you can get industrial testing cabinets for heat or cold endurance testing, so you could test many cameras at once in a cabinet like that.

you get them in all sizes, from one that hold a few electronic gizmos to ones where you can fit a truck or bus inside for heat or cold temperature testing.

NASA have the largest vacun test chamber, you could do unspeakable things to many of your enemies with it, while you sit and watch
And due to its size it do of course take quite a while to get all air out of it, so whatever it will be slow.

That video care of BBC and NASA + this one by mythbusters, rank high on my list of coolest videos made lately.
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Cool! I loved mythbusters. I actually got to see Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman live at an event I attended years ago.
 
It is rare i see 10 - 20 seconds of video, that make me want to jump out of my chair throw my arms in the air and run around my apartment going YES - YES - YES
 
kamkar1 said:
It is rare i see 10 - 20 seconds of video, that make me want to jump out of my chair throw my arms in the air and run around my apartment going YES - YES - YES
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Wish I could find those photos I had of the Mythbusters. Bummer. That show was one of the few on television that was exciting to watch and educational.
 
Muthbusters and Overhaulin was some of my favorites at one time.
I like for Chip Foose to build me a Amazon, spiced up on the power and handling + stopping side of course.
 
HonestReview said:
Interesting....

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I would not expect the T3 to melt at only 80C, although I'm not going to give mine that particular test! Fairly sure it has high melting point plastics that will be fine at that temperature.

Also sure that Zenfox's oven is a lot bigger than that one!
 
Other cams have failed (including plastics) at about that temp, so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens here given that this is a new manufacturer who may not grasp all the aspects of having your cam built by someone else. Time will tell and we will see.

I do think that dropping the 'extra' cams as the way of mitigating excess heat is a bad approach. Something like the Kenwood DRV-A601W does with lowering bitrates instead would be my preferred solution. Above all else, cams should never stop recording by themselves unless no other cam could record then either. The keyword is "Reliability" and any cam lacking that isn't acceptable.

Phil
 
Went out for lunch and some shopping today and observed some seemingly heat related behavior. The dashcam had previously been on in the garage for 8 hours overnight until the parking timer expired and recorded all 3 cameras without any missing footage during that time.

Timeline:
11:07 trip 1 start
11:34 trip 1 end
11:39 parking mode start
11:59 rear camera stopped
12:05 parking mode end (unknown cause)
12:09 interior camera stopped
12:10 parking mode start
12:18 parking mode end
------> missing recording
12:20 trip 2 start (already moving)
12:23 trip 2 end
12:37 parking mode start (don't know why it took so long)
12:38 parking mode end (unknown cause)
12:45 parking mode start
12:46 parking mode end / trip 3 start
13:07 interior camera resumed recording
13:17 rear camera resumed recording
13:20 trip 3 end
13:25 parking mode start

The trip started mostly sunny and ended up mostly cloudy with very light rain and outside temperatures ranged from 85F to 90F according to the car sensor. A Samsung Evo Plus 128GB was used and the camera was powered by a portable DC power pack the entire time so it was not affected by the car's electrical system or triggered by ACC power. Unfortunately, I had a passenger so was not monitoring the camera and didn't have the IR thermometer. All 3 cameras recorded fine during the 30 minute drive to the destination and entered parking mode 5 minutes later. About 20 minutes after that, the rear camera stopped recording. The remaining 2 cameras continued to record for 6 more minutes, then exited parking mode for no reason that I could determine from the footage. Normal recording continued 4 more minutes, then the interior camera stopped and parking mode resumed shortly after with only the front camera. Parking mode continued for another 9 minutes at which time we returned to the car. However 2 minutes of footage were missing between the last parking mode file and normal mode resuming. Don't know if the camera had just shutdown or if it was a heat related issue transitioning back to normal mode. We then proceed to another location and the dashcam continued to record only the front camera and there was another transition from parking to normal mode with no obvious cause while we were shopping. On the return trip with the AC running, the interior camera started recording again after 20 minutes followed by the rear camera 10 minutes later.

I'm planning another overnight test in the garage with the same card after the DC power pack is recharged to see if any of the anomalies recur in the the lower temperatures.

KuoH
 
My 256GB card have filled up yesterday and are now happily overwriting old files, but it have not yet reached files made with H.265 or files made with a lesser bitrate or segment duration.

I am letting it rip to see if it choke on something, today i have also set a 5 second boot delay, and i have not encountered any failure to start recording.
But early days just done 2 short drives today with just 1 stop each.
 
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